LeMons

For the past 10 weeks or so Philip and some of his friends from work have been rebuilding a "race car" for 24 hours of LeMons. This is a silly car race parodied from a historic European race called 24 hours of Le Mans. For this LeMons race you buy a car for $500 or less, strip out all the unnecessary parts and then turn it into something you can race. Sooo every Tuesday evening and Saturday morning 4-7 of Philip's friends have been coming to our house and working on their sweet 1994 eclipse to get it race ready. They finished the car tonight and their first race is this weekend. Philip won't be able to drive in this race because we will be at a family wedding, but he will get to participate in the next race in December.

before the work began

For the most part I am thrilled that they are done working in my driveway and garage twice a week and that the crazy looking was carted off in a trailer tonight. However, Levi (and Philip) has been having so much fun "working" with the guys and learning about the "race car" from his Dad. Philip is the only guy in the group to have any children (some of them are married), so I didn't know how they would react to having two little curious boys around as they worked. Luckily, all the guys have been so sweet to both of the boys and always took out time to talk to Levi, play with him and answer all his questions. I'm pretty sure he is going to be really sad when they don't keep showing up to work. I am hoping to take him out to the track to see his Daddy drive the race car at the next race because I know he will be over joyed to see it racing :).

I must say Philip is young at heart and has been really enjoying this whole process. You can tell the guys had a blast working together from the planning, scheming, designing all the way through the building. They decided on the team name "Piston Broke" and very male pun...but what can you expect when you get 7 guys brainstorming together. The logo they came up with is pretty fun and they had T-shirts and decals made. They even made a tiny Levi sized shirt :). Another theme they are going with is "Come and Take It" which is part of Texas history. Here are several pictures of the process...

only needed parts left inside (lighter is faster and cheaper)

Happy helper :)

race seat (the safety rules are strict)

Levi is his car by the "race car" with new stripes

this was the scene in my driveway twice a week

Philip welding in the roll cage

adding some "style" decals and a flag (I sewed the flag)

the cool logo decal on the hood

most of the team (2 are missing)

ready to head to the race...and out of my driveway :)

I have a feeling this won't be the last you will hear of this car on the blog...when Philip gets to race in December the will surely be stories to be told :).

He Really Likes Me!

I have been feeling a little bleh lately. Maybe it is because I am about to be 30. Maybe it is because I sometimes feel like I am treading water every day (the never ending cycle of laundry, cleaning, cooking, cleaning, bathing, cleaning, feeding, cleaning, diapers, cleaning, playing, cleaning...I could go on and on). Maybe it is because Levi is loving preschool so so much and is so happy to leave me every day and talks about how much fun school is and how much he loves his teacher all the time. Maybe it is because I feel like I could be doing a better job at all my important jobs; Christian, wife, mother, house keeper, nurse, daughter, sister, friend...Philip tells me that he thinks I am doing a great job, and my feeling this way means I am growing and trying to improve which is a good thing. That's sweet of him, but it doesn't solve my problem.

All this is not to say that I am unhappy. Most of the time I am very happy and feel overwhelmingly blessed by my sons, husband, home, family and friends etc. God has given me much more than I deserve. However, I've been having these thoughts a little more often lately. Well, today Levi just made my day. When I picked him up from school he ran up to me gave me a big hug and said I made this for you.

His teacher explained that they all had some time to create texture rubbings and when Levi finished his he insisted that he wanted to "put it in an envelope for his Momma and give it to her." She was sweet enough to oblige and he presented me with the envelope very enthusiastically. It is now proudly hanging on the fridge. It made me feel so good to know that he was thinking of me while he was at school. Levi has a gift. He seems to always know when I need a little reassurance and will do or say something that just makes everything alright.

Sorry for being so sappy. I just want to remember this when he is 17 :).

Big Boys and a New Routine

These last two weeks my boys have just seemed so grown up! Levi walks into school with his back pack as if he has done it all his life and has seemed more eager to "help" while he is at home. He seems to think he can do everything himself and wants to help me with whatever task I am working on. Yesterday at school he made me a lovely fruit loop necklace and he asked me to my "pretty new necklace" again this morning. He is really becoming a "big boy!"

 

 

 
 With Levi in preschool twice a week I have more one on one time with Joel than ever before. This has allowed me to notice all the cute and grown up things he is doing...

he gives his dinosaurs a drink

he insists on eating his bananas big

he pretends to talk on the phone

and it's usually Daddy he is calling

he reads books with his big brother

he is especially fond of his Boynton books

 

I have been wondering why I thought I was so busy when I was Momma to only Levi. My time with just Joel is so much simpler and I can get a lot more done! Our time together has been sweet to say the least :)

Levi has, in general, been more appreciative of his baby brother now that he has some time away from him. He is including him in his play and asking him to come with him to do things, grabbing his hand and showing him new things and talking to him all day long. I love watching their friendship grow, change and develop!

Our mail man is very sweet and calls the boys by name. He brings larger mail to my door and knocks very quietly in case the boys are asleep. If we happen to be home and awake when he comes Levi always runs out the door to get the mail. A few days ago Levi saw him coming, ran to get Joel and made sure he got to come get the mail too. Then this afternoon we were outside enjoying the cooler weather and a snack of cantaloupe and Levi sat down at his little table. It melted my heart to hear him sweetly say, "Joel come over here and sit with me," and then to watch Joel immediately toddle over and sit down right next to his big brother. So so cute! I hope they love each other more and more as time goes on!

 This morning we headed over to Moe and Pops house for some swimming and fun with the fam. Nora, Asher and Aunt Kate were there too and we had a nice time playing at the park, swimming in the pool and eating a yummy lunch. I love that the boys have cousins close to their age that they enjoy playing with. I grew up with some of my best friends being my cousins and I have such precious memories from times spent with them. I know these four will get into all kinds of trouble and have tons of fun through the years!

 Fall is off to a great start and I can't wait to spend more time in the out doors playing and getting messy with my boys. Every day I thank God for blessing me with the chance to be their mom!

1st Day of Preschool!

Today Levi went to preschool for the first time. He is enrolled at Discovery School and will be attending twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am to 2pm. I am happy to report that Levi had a great day from the moment he woke up this morning (at 6:15 talking about going to school a mile a minute) until he went to nap a few moments ago. Joel decided to sleep in until 8am, a rare treat, so Levi and I had almost 2 hours of alone time before getting ready for school. Levi loves to help me cook, so we decided to make some apple cinnamon muffins for a special first day of school breakfast. He had a blast measuring and dumping all the ingredients and stirring the batter. While they baked we watched an episode of Curious George together snuggled on the couch. When they were done I served him on the "You Are Special Today" plate and I'm pretty sure that made him feel very special :).

loving his "special plate"

After Joel woke up I strapped him in his chair for a muffin and Levi got all snazzy for his first day of school. He wore a new outfit and looked pretty cute! For some reason he insisted on tucking his shirt in, and he just looked so grown up! Luckily he was very excited to go to school and have fun with his "new friends and Ms. Melanie." When Joel and I dropped him off at his class he wasn't phased one bit. Joel and I, however, were a little sad. We were tough though and held it together and fought back the tears. Levi was so sweet and gave Joel and big hug and kiss good bye and was all smiles as he waved bye and said "Bye Momma, see you real soon!"

walking into school

found his back pack hook :)

excited to play at "a table just my size"

sweet Joel missed his bubba going home

As soon as we got home Joel and I went out for a run and I must say it sure was nice to push the single stroller with only 22 pounds of weight in it instead of the usual double with 57 pound of weight! If only the weather was cooler it would have been a perfect run. However, I was so drenched in sweat and red in the face I decided that Joel and I would just stay home and play instead of going to the grocery store as I had planned. I did however finish my run with about a 1 minute less than normal average miles per hour. Ha!

This week the school days are half days so that the kids can ease into their new schedule, so we picked Levi up at 11:30am instead of 2pm. He was so excited to see Joel and I, and had a good report from his teacher. she said he did a great job in class, "was very happy" and was an excellent line leader. Phew :). Thankfully he seemed very happy and said "school is lots of fun momma! We read a book about a tiny little mouse and Jesus. We sing a silly song !" Who knows what book they read, but I am guessing it was If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and a bible story book, not a book about a mouse and Jesus :).

hooray for Chick-fil-A

For a special treat we went to Chick-fil-A for lunch, which is Levi's favorite restaurant. He enjoyed his food and then some fun in the play area. We happened to run into a little girl from his class and her parents while we were there and she and Levi played very well together while we got to chat a little. It was nice to meet some of the other parents and they seemed so nice, which makes me feel even better about his school.

I am so happy to say that his school seems wonderful! It is church based, so they teach bible and have chapel every week, but they also do centers in math, science, reading/writing, imaginative play, tactile play, book corner, Spanish and creative movement. Levi will get to play outside every day (weather permitting of course) which is a relief because hopefully it will help him burn some of his excess energy. His teacher seems very sweet and has 2 young boys of her own. She taught middle school or 6 years prior to having her kiddos, staying home for a bit and then returning to teaching at the preschool about 3 years ago. All of this reassures me, as my sister said, if she can handle crazy middle school boys I'm sure she will be able to handle anything Levi does :). We are looking forward to a great year of preschool! I can't wait to see what all he will learn, as well as spend a little more one on one time with my sweet Joely Poley :)